Insulating Walls and Roofs with Low-Global-Warming Foam Blowing Agent

Honeywell’s Solstice® Liquid Blowing Agent (LBA) is being used by SES Foam to create low-global-warming foam insulation systems for walls and roofs. Solstice LBA is a key ingredient in foam production, enabling it to expand and providing much of its excellent insulating properties.

Last month, more than 190 countries agreed to an amendment to the Montreal Protocol that would phase down the use of high-global-warming hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) beginning in 2019. In addition to this international treaty, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has also implemented regulations that would phase out HFCs in spray foam by January 1, 2020 in the United States.

Companies like SES are well ahead of regulatory deadlines in transitioning to materials that have low global-warming-potential (GWP). HFC blowing agents like HFC-365mfc and HFC-245fa can have GWPs more than a thousand times higher than naturally occurring carbon dioxide, which has a GWP of 1. By comparison, Solstice LBA has an ultra-low GWP of 1, which is 99.9 percent lower than HFCs and equal to carbon dioxide.

“SES is proud of its longstanding commitment to sustainable solutions and innovation,” said Charles Valentine, chief operating officer, SES Foam. “Having successfully built our open-cell foam business around sucrose-based technology, we believe that adopting Honeywell’s Solstice LBA in our closed-cell foam is a natural fit that aligns perfectly with our customers and environmental focus. Our expertise is unique in that many of our staff are former spray foam contractors, so they have keen insight into customers’ needs, and can provide the support and products they require to succeed.”

Widespread adoption of Solstice LBA would save about 60 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, comparable to eliminating carbon dioxide emissions from more than 11.8 million cars. Honeywell’s Solstice LBA world-scale manufacturing plant in Louisiana started up in May 2014.